Man who allegedly pointed gun at officer arrested

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Boston Police Detective Daniel Griffin leapt out of an unmarked car with his gun drawn. “Boston police,” he yelled. “Drop the gun.”

It was Monday night, just before 7. Seconds earlier, four men had sprinted past the spot where he and a fellow officer were parked on Talbot Avenue in Dorchester, according to a police report. One of the men had a silver semiautomatic handgun, and they watched him crouch and point the gun down the street, the report said. Now he was pointing it at their car, facing down Griffin.

Half a second later, he turned and ran, leading Griffin on a winding sprint through yards and over fences. According to the report, after Griffin caught up to the man near 525 Talbot Ave. and put him in custody, the detective said, “What the hell were you thinking? I almost shot you.”

The suspect, 19-year-old Shavea Ferguson of Roslindale, only laughed and said something inscrutable, the report said. “Good looks.”

Police say that during the chase Ferguson discarded the gun, but officers recovered a silver handgun with an obliterated serial number loaded with 14 rounds of ammunition, including one round that was found in the chamber, the report said.

The weapon was the 83d gun seized by Boston police this year. Last year, 667 guns were seized, police said.

“Once again, we have reason to be proud of officers and I want to commend the officers involved in this incident,” Boston Police Commissioner William Evans said in the statement. “Thanks to their dedication and devotion to keeping our city safe and reducing gun violence, an arrest was made and there’s one less illegal gun that could be used to harm someone in our neighborhoods.”

Police later caught up with three other men who had sprinted by the unmarked car, according to the report. When one of the men was asked why he was running and who Ferguson initially pointed the gun at, he responded: “It’s hot out here. It could be anyone,” the report said.

Ferguson pleaded not guilty to multiple charges in Dorchester Municipal Court, where bail was set at $50,000, according to Officer James Kenneally, a Boston police spokesman, and is scheduled to return to court on March 24.

Joshua Hanye, a defense lawyer that represented Ferguson at his arraignment, did not respond to an e-mail or telephone message seeking comment. None of the other men was charged.